Page:Heroes of the hour- Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak Maharaj, Sir Subramanya Iyer.djvu/158

 along with Mr. Tilak and others to Aurangabad and there took in adoption a boy belonging to another branch of the old family. This was really the most natural course to take for a Hindu woman of an aristocratic family to keep up the traditions of such a family. But somehow immediately Tai Maharaj had returned from Aurangabad, she found herself entirely in the hands of her evil-counsellors. They probably put into her head wonderful notions of her own importance. What it was that happened we cannot know. She instituted proceedings against Mr. Tilak and others in the court of the District Judge of Poona asking for a revocation of the probate of the will of her late husband. Mr. Tilak was not a favourite with the Heaven-born service. Mr. Aston the district judge took a very perverse view of the matter and not only did he invalidate the probate and revokeit, but also permitted floods of irrelevent evidence on points having no direct connection with the matter under consideration. He recorded, against all the protests of Mr. Tilak, much gossip as to the unlawful confinement of Tai Maharaj and the adoption at Aurangabad. This was done with the clear intention of damaging the